Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@IceClimbers I think we'll see multiple new games next year!! A few commentators/journalists have said they are surprised Donkey Kong and Xenoblade haven't been announced already. Plus there's loads of speculation about Kirby.

I think we'll see Metroid Prime trilogy in October next year with Metroid Prime 4 being October/November 2023.

@IceClimbers In my opinion, I think Triangle Strategy will make it, and BotW 2 will be delayed to 2023, given how 1 was delayed initially, and 2 seems to be upon the same scope. If the Zelda team says they're aiming for a specific year, then chances are it's probably not happening that year.

I wouldn't expect anything first-party in this direct to release in 2021 unless it's a surprise drop or DLC (we'll probably see Age of Calamity and the last Smash reveal), because we already have a pretty meaty lineup of games for the rest of the year between WarioWare, Metroid, Mario Party, Pokemon, Advance Wars, and Big Brain Academy. I'm guessing we'll see the rumored new DK and Xenoblade 3 in addition to the new Kirby, plus more Splatoon 3 info. I also wouldn't be surprised if we get a reveal for whatever Next Level Games has been working on since Luigi's Mansion 3, since they've had 3 year development cycles for some time now. Maybe they'll be returning to Punch-Out or Mario Strikers? Or tackling something new, even? I can't think of a better candidate to continue Mario and Luigi as a series. And call me crazy, but I think we'll see Bayonetta 3 for the first time

@IceClimbers It's Nintendo published in Japan yeah, so it's part of their release schedule there. Which means it won't cross with any other slots in Japan, and since we get global release dates, the rest of the world.

@MarioBrickLayer If I were to tweak that to something I think might work...

Jan - Pokemon Arceus
Feb - Zelda Windwaker/Twilight Princess
Mar - Donkey Kong, Ring Fit 2
Apr - A notable 3rd party exclusive (RE perhaps)
May - Splatoon 3
Jun - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Spinoff game (not sure which IP)
Jul - Project TRIANGLE STRATEGY, Xenoblade chronicles 3
Aug - An eShop title, but also has a notable 3rd party exclusive.
Sep - Bayonetta 3
Oct - Kirby, GBA/GCN remake
Nov - BOTW 2
Dec - Blue Ocean Game (Nintendogs perhaps?)

@PikaPhantom I agree with you about 2021, I have a little bit of hope that Nintendo realised a while back that Mario Kart 8 is continuing to sell so well that they can hold off on MK9 until the Switch 2 and therefore they might have some DLC, but realistically i'm not sure that will happen!

I think the only way we see Splatoon 3, DK, X3 or Kirby in this direct is if any if them are releasing before March and I think one of them will.

@MarioBrickLayer Again, that's not really an indicator. One year's September Direct showcased Luigi's Mansion 3, which was a game that wasn't coming out until Fall of the following year. The same direct also teased a new Animal Crossing as well, which didn't release until 2020.

@link3710 that could work too!

I think the weak link in both our predictions is the Zelda double pack, I think Nintendo will want to be sure BOTW2 in November before they release it, if it's delayed into 2023 then I think it will release later in the year.

@VoidofLight I was thinking they would want to limit new game announcements in this direct as all things going well we already know 4 of the big releases for the year - Pokemon + Rabbids + Splatoon + BOTW2. One more now plus 2 in a January Direct probably gives us roughly half the years major releases.

@MarioBrickLayer I mean, Rabbids is only being published by Nintendo in Japan, and BotW 2 isn't probably coming next year, given the patterns that the Zelda team follows with their releases.

Also, there hasn't been a January direct in years, so there's no use in expecting one for this year. We'll get one around February or March, just like how it was this year.

@VoidofLight Nintendo focuses further into the future when there's little to promote in the near future.

• Fall/holiday 2017 was very packed so the only post-2017 1st party game in the September 2017 Direct was Kirby Star Allies (March 2018)
• Fall/holiday 2018 was rather barren (heavy reliance on Smash with the other games being Super Mario Party and Pokemon Let's Go) so there were quite a few post-2018 1st party games in the September 2018 Direct (NSMBU Deluxe in January 2019, Yoshi's Crafted World in March 2019 along with Luigi's Mansion 3 and Animal Crossing coming later with 2019 as release windows at that time)
• Fall/holiday 2019 was very packed so the only post-2019 1st party games in the Direct were Animal Crossing (March 2020), TMS#FE Encore (January 2020) and XCDE ("2020" which turned out to be May 2020)

Fall/holiday 2021 is very packed so I only think there'd be 1st party games released up to Spring 2022 present.

@VoidofLight I said January but I meant the first direct, the one setting out the year ahead.

I know it's a third party game, but it's an exclusive with Nintendo IP, so Nintendo will push it hard and coordinate the release with Ubisoft.

@VoidofLight To be fair, no sequel in the same engine has ever been delayed (namely Majora's Mask, Spirit Tracks and Triforce Heroes). So I wouldn't say that a delay is a certainty, merely something possible.

@link3710 Eh, I’m just expecting one, given there’s no certainty that it’ll release next year, at least not from the Zelda team.

I was thinking for next Nintendo Direct it will highlight some indie games that probably will be released in year 2022 such as Sikanda , Re:Legend.

@Anti-Matter We already had an indie direct. The next one will be a general one.

I think Game Awards would be a better fit for the rumoured Resident Evil than a Direct. MH Rise expansion feels like a better fit for the Direct if there's Capcom announcements.

@Grumblevolcano I don’t expect to hear anything about the rise expansion until after Rise gets a steam port.

@damien33ad BotW 2 is an original title. It just happens to share the same world and mythos as the first, but it's promised to mostly stand on it's own and be it's own thing like Majora's Mask was to Ocarina. I'd also expect a lot of BotW sequels, or games that take place in the same version of the world with the same mythos, given that it's the most current era, with BotW being a soft reboot of the entirety of the timeline.

Imagine if Nintendo announce another Mii games for Nintendo Switch from the Direct.
What game will be ?

@VoidofLight I'm predicting the expansion launches the same day as the PC port.